The Transcendence Orchestra - All Skies Have Sounded (2021)

The third proper album from Anthony Child (Surgeon) and Daniel Bean's acclaimed drone project, 'All Skies Have Sounded' is another voyage into esoteric synth-led ambience. Think cosmic new age business, but with teeth - the creeping dread of Cluster and early Tangerine Dream but tangled with Black To Comm's surrealist oddness.

Child and Bean have been regularly churning out syrupy psychedelic drones since their 2016 live appearance at Free Rotation, and with each successive release their music has increased its soft power. "All Skies Have Sounded" was recorded in Spring this year, and is the duo's most confident yet; there's nothing particularly new, but each element has been sculpted and all fat has been trimmed.

Like its predecessors, the album is a mind-splaying celebration of cosmic synthesis, allowing synth drones to bubble, squelch and sway without being subject to melodic phrasing. The duration of each piece (the longest here is an ample 12 minutes) is key to its unraveling, and allows for meditative focus into the texture of the sound. Oscillators are able to rumble and throb, shifting in timbre and subtly filtering in and out of the sonic spectrum.

It's music that requires laser focus - not simply background ambience - and rewards pensive, deep listening.